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I recall that when I first saw Illuminate CD covers, I expected the songs to be about
vampires and other so called "gothic" (in quotes) themes. The covers were paintings of
a pale skinned man offering a rose to a pale skinned woman set against a castle, graveyard,
or other similar scenes. While "vampires" do appear in a few songs, to my pleasant suprise,
their lyrics were not at all morbid. Actually, "Vampire" is mentioned one or twice, but
only as a metaphor, such as in "Der Vampir des eigenen Herzens" {Vampire of Your Own
Heart}. Song topics for the most part are love, warmth, coldness, feelings, exploration,
and other real emotions. I cannot read nor speak German, but I've read translated reviews
online that the lyrics are written in an older, fairly poetic classic style German -
different from modern spoken German, void of any popular phrases imported from USA. I can
at least say I like the English translations of them!
Their first album Verfall, released in 1996, contained "Leidenschaft" {Passion}, which
is often included in v.a. compilations. (I especially like the new version from the
Weiss album.) A year later, came Erinnerungen, and in 1998 came Erwachen, from which
I admit my liking especially to "Geheimes Leben" {Secret Life}, and "Der Traum des
T�nzers" {Dream of the Dancers}, which his glutteral voice is used. These three albums
formed a trilogy of sorts. In 1998, Illuminate released "Nur f�r dich" {Only for you},
and it became their strongest hit ever. Following that major milestone, Illuminate
followed up and released strong albums Ein Neur Tag in 2000 and Kaltes Licht in 2001,
with "Leuchtfeuer" {Beacon}, "Zweiter Weg" {Second Way}. Augenblicke, released in 2004,
seems to be getting mixed reviews from what I read. I haven't heard it yet, but perhaps the negative reviews
stems from the fact that Illuminate is now on Nuclear Blast, a primarily metal label.
Therefore, perhaps metalheads are reviewing the album?
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